Symphonic
by OpalescentStorm
Summary: When Hinata and Shino drop out of the yearly concerto competition, Neji and Temari of Konoha Academy of the Arts have to learn to work with a pair of strangely talented public school teenagers, Tenten and Shikamaru. Later NejiTen and ShikaTem.
1. Adagio and Allegro

**Symphonic**

_Chapter 1:____Adagio and Allegro_

**AN: Welcome all to a new chaptered story by yours truly. Thanks in advance for reading; I hope you enjoy the first chapter.**

"Shikamaru! Come on!" came an impatient female's voice. "You can't be daydreaming again," she groaned as she pushed a lock of brown hair out of hazel eyes. "They'll really think we're dumb slobs if we come much later than we already are, and if we're going to stay here for ten weeks, it's best we don't kill our chance at a good first impression" the young woman sighed. She was bent over the trunk of a white Ford Taurus, hefting a large cello out of the back compartment. With her left hand, she grasped a violin. After closing the trunk with her elbow, she thrust the smaller instrument at a yawning teenage boy.

"They've already got a bad opinion of us, Tenten. You think it'll matter to them if we're on time or late? It's bothersome trying to impress them when they've already got their minds set on what we'll be like," the young man sighed, ignoring the violin as he pulled his dark hair into a high ponytail. Tenten scoffed at him and walked off, still carrying his violin.

"Hey, hey, woman, come back with that!" he protested as she strode off towards the large doors of Konoha Academy's music hall.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_ _(1)_

"A surprise, Miss Tsunade?" a new teenaged girl's voice asked, her tone condescending and incredulous. "We all know what happened the last time you tried to give someone a pleasant surprise. Can we just skip this little game, forget there ever was a surprise, and get on to practicing already?" she half-demanded.

"Miss Temari, I don't really care what you or Mister Neji would like to do. Yes, there is a surprise. And you're going to act happy or at least moderately grateful or we will have a problem, is that understood?" a busty blonde woman demanded, staring down her pupils. One, a girl with her sandy hair in four pigtails, stared disinterestedly back from her seat at the piano, while the other, a boy with dark hair and alarmingly light eyes sighed quietly and feigned interest in his music.

A yawn was heard from the teenaged girl, then silence fell over the small room once more. "Wasn't this great surprise supposed to be here quite a while ago?" asked the boy, his tone bland except for the touch of acid that leaked into his words. "Then again, your sense of timeliness is almost as good as Mr. Kakashi's."

The older woman shot him a glare that could peel paint, but Neji was saved from the inevitable explosion by the opening of a door. "Ugh, sorry we're so late, but Shikamaru just had to go about as slow as humanly possible and–huh?" Tenten was only halfway into the room when she spotted Neji and Temari and stopped short. "Uhm. Did we get the wrong room or something?" she wondered, biting her lip and ready to make a quick escape.

"Miss Tenten, Mister Shikamaru, welcome to the Konoha Academy of the Arts!" Tsunade exclaimed, her expression sliding from angry to pleasant in half of a moment. Still looking wary, Tenten made her way into the room, followed by a tired-looking Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, Tenten, these two people are Temari and Neji and I, as you know, am Tsunade. Neji, Temari, meet Shikamaru and Tenten."

A moment of awkward silence fell over the group. Tenten's small smile faltered and fell in the silence as the four surveyed each other. Temari's eyes flashed, and she smiled in understanding. "Oh, now I get it. Some charity project, teaching kids from the inner-city to play their instruments, I see. Me and Neji don't do charity. No offense, public school kids, but we're just not going to waste our time when we could be getting better."

Shikamaru grimaced and rolled his eyes. To him, this certainly looked like it would prove to be a difficult next couple of months. Next to him, Tenten's position changed to something certainly more defensive. "Charity case?" she repeated. "Yeah right. Don't think that you're so much better than us just by looking at us. Hate to break it to you, but not all great musicians come from rich families."

Temari snickered and turned her head, her attention back on the piano. "Maybe you are good." Neji cut in. "For public school kids, that is. But we all know that if you live around here, unless you go to KAA (2), you're nothing in the music world. Maybe you'll be a little above average, but here, you're nothing unless you're great. We don't want public school losers around here," he scoffed, smirking at Shikamaru and Tenten.

"NEJI HYUUGA! I will not accept this sort of behavior here! You are being a disgrace to me and to this school. I handpicked these two students to assist you in the concerto competition, seeing as Hinata and Shino had to drop out of it, and so you and Temari had better be grateful! I will not allow my guests in this school to be insulted. They will stay here until the competition, and you'd better learn to get along," Tsunade hissed, every inch of her body screaming anger and frustration.

Neji narrowed his eyes and packed his cello into his case. "Fine, stick up for the little charity cases. You can pretend that they can become great all you want, but they're just fated to be a couple of losers. If my options are to degrade myself to work with these two or just to not do the concerto competition, it's obvious which one I'm choosing. You're going senile, Tsunade, and Temari, if you stick with this, you're insane," he said coldly, walking out.

Tenten, Shikamaru and Tsunade all stared after him, more than slightly thrown off-kilter. A moment later, Tsunade seemed to make up her mind, and she strode off after him. Temari shifted uncomfortably on the bench. "God. Wow, I'm actually sorry about that. He's not normally that much of a bastard. Ugh. Wow," she sighed, smoothing out her purple skirt and standing. "Well, there's no point in sitting around here if we're not going to practice together. I'll give you two a tour of the school."

The two other teenagers stared at her, more than a little confused by the change in mood. "Aren't you going to throw a huge fit about how we don't belong here and we should go back to the slums?" Shikamaru asked blandly, raising a single eyebrow.

"With Tsunade so set on this? Hell no. I'd rather fight with a pack of starving wolves. Besides, we do need new people for the concerto. We wrote it for two cellos, a violin, and a piano, and since Hinata and Shino dropped out, it's either get replacements or quit, and I don't quit. Anyway, if Tsunade picked you out, you can't be exactly horrible. Not saying that you'll be as good as Neji and I.." Temari blinked and chuckled quietly. "That's kinda not possible. But you probably don't suck too bad, so it'll be okay."

The two brunettes in the room exchanged dark glances. "I suppose I'll go with you," Shikamaru sighed. "I guess I'll need to learn about this school if I'm going to be living here for the next few months. I hate this whole getting used to a new school thing," he complained, stretching as he moved slowly. "Coming, Tenten."

"Uhm, no, I think I'll stay here and practice for a little while," she said, turning her head away to look at her cello case as she unpacked. Shikamaru's facial expression softened almost imperceptibly. "Temari, when can I get the music for the competition? I need to practice."

Temari sighed and frowned. "Can't you just come with us? You'll get lost on your own. KAA's bigger than whatever little public high school you two went to. Besides, the music copies won't be here until later on in the evening, when we'll have a practice."

"No, I need to practice a little bit," Tenten said, adamant even though she was no longer angry. "I'll just have to stay here until you guys come around with the music for the rehearsal. I'll be fine."

Shikamaru shook his head, smiling just a tiny amount, and stretched his arms while Temari rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Shikamaru and I are gonna go back to the rooms, and I have to see Tsunade about getting you guys uniforms and IDs all that junk if you're gonna stay here for a while. Did they even tell you where you're going to be staying? No? God, can't they do anything right? Come on, kid, we're gonna go complain to someone," Temari huffed, grabbing Shikamaru by his sleeve and yanking him out the door as he meekly followed.

Tenten chuckled and turned back to her cello case. Pulling out a folder, she rifled through the music that lay within, trying to find something interesting to practice. She could always just do scales until she died of boredom, but an actual piece was so much more fun to play. Settling on one of Vivaldi's concertos for cello, she placed it on an empty music stand, set up her instrument, and began playing the piece.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

"Follow close and don't get lost. You'd never find your way anywhere if I weren't here, and not many people would be willing to help you out, especially not dressed the way you are. Like an outsider, that is," Temari clarified. Shikamaru glanced at her, but he didn't bother with protesting. "Okay, you came in a car, right? And you're stuff's still in there? Grab it; we're going on the bus. No one drives cars around here, there's no parking anywhere except here and the parking garage."

Shikamaru took in this information without a word, and once he'd grabbed his few bags, they walked to a bus stop and boarded without speaking to each other. Both of them were silent, seemingly lost in their own thoughts. "Am I going to need identification to get on the bus?" he asked, eyeing the card she showed to the bus driver.

"Oh, yeah," Temari answered, jolted out of her reverie. "Another thing that you'll need. For now, take mine," she instructed, tossing it over to him. "I don't need it, the bus drivers know me. And they won't dare to bother me for it," she scoffed, tossing her head as they took seats on the large bus.

Raising his eyebrows, the boy with her laughed quietly. "You get everything you want here, or just most things?" he drawled.

"Everything. Maybe people say it sucks to have a rich father, with him gone all of the time and all of that shit, but it pays." Temari eyed Shikamaru carefully, then grinned ruefully. "This is all gonna be a big surprise for you, public school boy," she taunted. "You're never gonna want to go back to that high school of yours once you learn how you get treated when you're rich."

Shikamaru chuckled darkly and shook his head. He begged to differ, but getting into an argument with Temari would be way too troublesome for the time being, so he shut his mouth and looked out of the window as large buildings went by. After a while, the bus had stopped outside of one of the main housing complexes.

"All right, come on. This is where Neji and I live, so you'll probably be here, too. I'll talk to the rooming assistant," Temari narrated, walking through the automatic doors and approaching the large desk. "Sabaku Temari. I'm here to find out where Shikamaru and Tenten, temporary residents until after the Junior Concerto Competition takes place, are going to be living."

A bored looking woman looked through a few files before pulling out a paper. "Miss Tenten will be living with you in 401, and Mister Hyuuga and Mister Nara will be living together in room 501. Your current roommates have been moved for the time being. And.... Tsunade left these for you," she said, pulling out two large parcels from under the desk. "Uniforms for Mister Nara and Miss Tenten. And identification is in the attached envelope, along with some further instructions," the woman informed them.

"I'm gonna have to thank Tenten," Temari laughed. "I hated the bitch I'd been rooming with. Good luck with Neji, though. Here, take your uniforms," she said, pressing one of the parcels on top of all the things he'd already been carrying and walking off to the elevators. Shikamaru sighed and followed, carefully balancing all his luggage.

Once they'd dropped everything off at Shikamaru and Neji's large room, they went to the room that Temari and Tenten would be sharing. Temari took a glance at the label on the package of Tenten's clothes. "Miss Tenten, huh?" she asked. "What, does she not have a last name or something?" she wondered.

Shikamaru shook his head. "It's a long story. And don't ask unless you've got tissues with you," he told her blandly.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

Neji was beyond pissed off. First, he had to deal with these infuriating public school kids for a good two months. He knew Tsunade better than to think that she'd just make them go back. Second, he'd finally almost gotten to the housing complex when he realized he'd left his phone on one of the chairs in the music room.

By the time he got to the music hall, he was infuriated. As caught up as he was in his anger, he didn't hear the cello until he was almost to the door. When his brain finally comprehended the sound, his hand was on the door handle. He froze, caught up by the sound of the music, the anger temporarily driven out of his brain by sheer disbelief. The only person in that room was that public school girl, right? There was no way that was her, he decided. It was probably one of the other cellists from KAA practicing. Either way, it didn't matter. He needed his phone.

He turned the door handle, pushed open the door, and looked inside. And sure enough, there was Tenten, playing the concerto that almost broke his heart. "No way in hell," he groaned, not ready for this new development.

"Surprise," Tenten said mildly, looking up from her music and smiling wryly.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

(1) Just the most common sound levels, from very quiet to quiet to medium quiet to medium loud to loud to very loud. My attempt at a clever line break.

(2) Konoha Academy for the Arts.


	2. A Melody in My Head

**Symphonic**

_Chapter 2:____A Melody in My Head_

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! I hope you all are as excited to read this as I am to write it. Haha, school essays give my creative muse a boost. So thank my teachers for the update!**

Neji picked out a short excerpt from the music and played it, accelerating until his fingers and hands were just a blur. Tenten simply stared at him for a moment until she realized his intentions and grinned. It was like a game of horse, him leading and she following each time. Accelerating, slowing down, syncopating the rhythm, halving the time and then doubling. Neji turned the music inside-out, and Tenten was able to successfully follow him.

When their short game was over, he stared at her for a short while. Irritated, Tenten finally snapped at him. "Cat got your tongue, or were you just trying to think of a way to insult me?" she asked, her tone slightly mocking.

"I wasn't planning on insulting you," Neji began cooly. "However, if you insist. A few of your grace notes were butchered, and you tend to rush too often. Overall, you're not terrible. Not a charity case, maybe. You're definitely not as good as I am, though."

Tenten nearly choked. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a narcissist?" she asked him, her brow furrowed in frustration. "And, for your information, your dynamics are incredibly boring, and you're too stiff when you play. You're supposed to move, you know," the girl retorted.

"Of course. I just choose not to look like an idiot. You have no qualms about that, obviously, so I'm sure you'll take control of the moving for our little group." He groaned and ran his hand through infuriatingly perfect hair. "Look, I didn't even come here to argue with you. I came to get my cell phone and leave." He grabbed the sleek Blackberry from the chair and took a look. Sighing, he set it in his pocket. "Never mind. The music will be here in 30 minutes; it'd be pointless to leave."

The two sat in silence for a few moments, staring around. An awkward silence filled the practice room, and Tenten shifted uncomfortably once or twice, not accustomed to this snobby boy and this tense silence, which was so his fault. Meanwhile, Neji tried to ignore the girl. Sure, he'd have to get used to her sooner or later, but he preferred to pretend that he could ignore her for at least a little while. Infuriating public school girl.

After scuffing the floor with the bottom of her shoes once or twice, Tenten let out a small sigh. Normally she could be patient and calm in these situations. However, the tension was killing her. "What kind of music is it? Your quartet piece, that is. Like what's the style?" she asked curiously. She knew she'd find out sooner or later, but it was better to ask than have only that heavy silence for company.

"It's... different, I suppose. If I had to compare it to anyone, I'd say it's in the style of Vivaldi or Tchaikovsky. It's got a more modern feel, though. There are three movements: _Presto_, _Andantino_, and _Vivacissimamente_(1). The slowest is about 60 beats per minute. The accelerando in the Vivacissimamente brings it up to almost 200. There are a few solos. The longest is mine in the Andantino, but the second longest is yours, in the Vivacissimamente. I hope you'll be able to keep up," he smirked. "It would be funny if you failed, but I don't want to risk our success, so you'd better practice your ass off."

Tenten frowned. It certainly didn't sound like it would be even slightly easy. "I'll practice 'till my fingers bleed," she promised. "I've done it before; it's not too hard."

"You'd better," Neji retorted, "public school girl," he added, almost as an afterthought. He wasn't grinning, but there was a smile in his voice.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

Temari struggled with the heavy box outside of the door. "Why the hell am I carrying all of this? Stupid lazy boy," she complained, kicking Shikamaru in the shin as she tried to open the door. Needless to say, her attempts weren't working out well for her. With a sigh and a small chuckle, Shikamaru reached over her and opened the door.

"You're troublesome, woman," he complained. "You didn't even need to get the whole box. Just grab the copies that are ours and go. It's not like you need to be a genius to figure it out," the brunette told her.

"Whatever. Ours could be buried in here under tons of other stuff. Will you get the door to the practice room? Besides, I kind of want to see what the other groups wrote. I'd like to see if it's all quite as lame as I'm expecting it to be," she snorted.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he opened the door to the practice room. "We're here. We've got the music," he announced as they stepped in. Neji and Tenten were deep in conversation with their cellos next to them; Tenten huffed at something Neji said as the boy smirked. Temari felt her worries ease a little bit. It seemed that Neji was relaxing a little bit, and the only reason he would do that was if this girl had actually proven herself. The blond smirked. This would certainly prove interesting.

Temari dropped the box, quickly opened it with an Exacto-knife that she produced from her uniform shirt's pocket, much to the dismay of Neji and Shikamaru. Once the box was open, she rifled through the many pages, all paper-clipped in sets for the groups they were written in. At random, Temari pulled out a thick group of sheet music and gave it a cursory glance. "Largo? Are they kidding me? And it's not even difficult. A second-grader could play this," she laughed derisively.

Neji wandered over, his interest piqued by the box. He haphazardly selected a sheaf of music. "Do the writers of this even know what eighth- and sixteenth-notes are?" he snorted. "Boring and substandard. This competition will be easy," he announced haughtily. After a few more moments of rifling though music, Temari seized a group of papers.

"Great. Here you guys go. Shikamaru, get set up. We need to start practicing right away," the blonde ordered. Instead of grumbling, Shikamaru shook his head and rolled his eyes at her. Regardless of his actions, though, he still took his violin and set up a stand.

Tenten looked at the music Neji had just handed her, flipping casually through the pages. This definitely wouldn't be easy, she decided, but it wasn't impossible, either. "'Kay, where are we starting?" she asked.

Temari and Neji looked at each other and shrugged. "Why not from the Andantino movement?" Shikamaru said, the first one to speak up. "We should all be able to handle that, and then we'll be able to practice on our own for a little while before we work together on the more difficult parts of the pieces."

Everyone agreed, and soon they were well underway on the piece. Tenten and Shikamaru as well as Neji were quietly concentrating, but Temari took it upon herself to speak up whenever something went wrong or if there was anything worth mentioning in the piece. "A sharp, Tenten," she reminded sharply. "Inharmonic to b flat, please tell me they at least taught you that at your public school," the blonde criticized. "Measure 94, let's go again."

The playing would go on for a few more moments before Temari would have another suggestion or insult. If she made a mistake, in return, Neji would generally catch her. And Tenten and Shikamaru were quite quick to pick on the small flaws made by either of the two KAA students.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

"It's _syncopated_, Shikamaru."

"Temari, I'm certain that's not supposed to be flat."

"Have you ever heard of pianissimo, Neji?"

"Tenten, there's no accelerando anywhere in this piece, so don't make one up."

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

Despite the constant bickering, they blended well together. Each note complemented the others that were being played, and each playing style of each musician filled in the gaps left behind by the others. It was still rough, of course, but it was music, and it was good music.

At the end of the practice, they all had satisfied smiled on their faces. "Don't get too complacent, though," Neji ordered. "The other two movements are much harder. Granted, we won't be practicing them up to tempo yet, but they should be practiced somewhere close to their written speeds. If you two are going to get cocky now, you'll be in for a rude awakening at tomorrow's practice."

Tenten rolled her eyes and sighed rudely. "Well, isn't that a great example of the pot calling the kettle black," she taunted. Her words had lost most of their hostility, but she couldn't forget the way Neji had welcomed them. Not that Temari had been particularly welcoming, either.

"Play nice, Tenten," Shikamaru wearily reminded her.

Neji paid little heed to Tenten's words, choosing instead to throw his attention into packing his cello away and neatly packing up his music. She was true, to an extent. However, he had a right to be cocky. He was the principal cellist of the KAA's orchestra. That gave him a reason to be self-confident, didn't it. These public school kids were throwing him off. "Temari, let me talk to you for a minute."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Temari said offhandedly. "Nara, you remember the way back to the housing complex, right? You and Tenten might as well head over there and pack. God knows how long Hyuuga's going to want to talk," she said, jokingly exasperated.

"Whatever, troublesome woman," Shikamaru said. "Come on, Tenten. It's clear we public school kids aren't wanted here," he said, smiling slightly.

Once they were out of the room, Neji shook his head, running his hand through his hair again. "I hate to say it, but they're better than Miss Hinata and Shino," he wryly told Temari. "Tenten was better with the concerto she'd been playing earlier, though. Probably one of those people who are naturally unskilled and practice hard anyway. A looser who doesn't understand fate," he tried, but his heart wasn't in it.

"Yeah, they're good. What the hell? I thought that KAA was supposed to be the best school for the best musicians. Not whatever little trashy high school they came from. Whatever, at least we don't have to make sure they understand the music and teach them how to play. We just have to swallow our pride."

Neji sent her a small glare. "I refuse to do any such thing."

Shaking her head, Temari walked over and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "That stick's so far up your ass I'm surprised you're not suffering internal damage, Hyuuga," she insulted teasingly, half-skipping out of the room.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

(1) Presto, Andantino, and Vivacissimamente: named by their tempo. Because I'm creative like that. Respectively they are as follows: very fast, slightly faster than walking pace, and very quickly and lively.


	3. Octave Shifts

**Symphonic**

_Chapter 3: Octave Shifts_

**AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy with–ironically–orchestra.**

"So what happened with you and the Hyuuga boy?" Shikamaru asked, mild curiosity in his voice. "It seemed he was a bit more willing to work with us after you were together." He peered at Tenten as they waited for the bus.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot; she was never quite as good with waiting as Shikamaru always was. "It was kinda fun, kinda weird. We played H.O.R.S.E with the concerto I've been working on lately. Apparently I rush and butcher my grace notes." Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "He has no movement or dynamics."

Shikamaru chuckled easily. "You know you rush. You just don't like others pointing it out." She pouted slightly and turned away, looking down the street for any sign of the bus. "But you're right, he is fairly emotionless when playing. And Temari sometimes forgets the key signature (1), and I'm horrible with rhythms. You can't expect others to be perfect, and you can't expect yourself to be perfect," he told her, his last words garbled with a yawn.

Tenten huffed slightly but didn't argue with him. After a moment of silence, the bus came quickly around the corner, its brightly lit windows showing a lack of students. Well, it was late, Tenten supposed. Shikamaru produced his new identification card from a pocket and tossed Tenten's over at her. "These get us on the bus. And pretty much everything else."

"Ugh! Wait up!" came a slightly winded voice from somewhere behind Tenten and Shikamaru. Temari was half-jogging, clearly worried they'd soon board the bus and leave. Neji was several paces behind, walking quickly but clearly not willing to make himself look foolish for the sake of boarding the bus on time.

The short bus ride to the housing complex was, if anything, slightly tense. Now that they were no longer playing music, each person drew slightly into themselves: Neji with a slightly cold silence, Shikamaru and Temari deep in thought, and Tenten fidgeting listlessly but silently.

Luckily for all of them, the bus ride didn't take very long before the dorms were in sight. "This is one of the many dorms we've got on campus. Lucky for you two you got paired with us," Temari said, a smirk in her voice as they walked off the bus. "Best dorms on the whole damn campus. Private bathrooms and all the nice stuff. You can thank us later."

In the lobby of the dorms stood two people. One, a girl with deep purple hair, seemed to shrink into herself, her eyes flitting around the room as if she couldn't find a place to look. The other, a male wearing a long hooded sweatshirt, stared cooly at the four. "Miss Hinata," Neji said, his voice slightly curious. "Shino."

"We came to see our, um, replacements," the small girl quietly admitted, twiddling her thumbs slightly nervously. "And to a-apologize to you two," she told Tenten and Shikamaru. "My name is Hinata, and I play the violin. Shino, who plays cello," Hinata said, gesturing behind her, "and I couldn't be part of the competition, but, ah, we do wish you the best of luck."

Shino inclined his head once, gravely. "Indeed," he said quietly, his voice serene. "It will be interesting to listen to you four play. We are not used to people from public schools. I doubt you are absolutely horrible. I should hope you don't prove me wrong."

Without so much as a second word, the two walked away, Hinata speaking softly to Shino and him inclining his head to hear her quiet voice as Tenten frowned. "Well, what in the world was that about?" she wondered aloud once they were both through the door. Neji scoffed and headed away, Shikamaru forced to follow him lest he get lost. "What is his problem!" Tenten huffed, her hands on her hips as Temari rolled her eyes.

"Neji gets annoyed whenever he's in the same room with Hinata for long," Temari said, heading off in the opposite direction of Neji and Shikamaru. "Follow me. It's easiest to get to our dorms this way," she offered.

Nonplussed, Tenten watched Temari's back for a few moments before jogging to catch up to the blonde, who was already entering an elevator. "Wait. They're related, right?" she asked, chewing her lip thoughtfully. They had looked awfully alike. With a impatient nod from Temari, the brunette continued. "So what's the problem with them?"

"I don't think he's ever gotten along with her. Not since I've known the two of them, anyway. That's probably the reason she's not in the competition with us, and Shino's one of Hinata's best friends, but he and Neji don't get along so he was only in it for her sake." The blonde frowned and shook her head. "Anyway, It's got something to do with their family." Temari drummed her fingers on the bar on the elevator's interior, thinking. "He'd probably get all pissy with me if I told you about it. So you'll have to wait to see if he ever tells you." Frowning, she looked at Tenten. "And you sure as hell better not pester him about it."

The brunette shook her head impatiently and sighed. "Waiting is boring, you know." With the look on Temari's face, though, she deferred. "But waiting it is. Just so Mr. High-and-Righteous-I'm-Completely-Above-You-All Hyuuga doesn't throw a fit." Though it was more than that, admittedly. Tenten wasn't an idiot when it came to being a team player; she definitely wasn't about to compromise the group by making enemies.

Within a few minutes, each pair was in their own dorm. Tenten wandered around curiously, examining the space as she put her things–Shikamaru had been kind enough to bring them with him, she noticed–into their places. The room was large, with plenty of amenities. Even the bathroom was much better than she had expected, even of a private music academy.

"God, college will be disappointing compared to this," the brunette chuckled as she tossed a few of her shirts haphazardly into a drawer and picked up a uniform shirt to look at it curiously. It was a simple white collared button-down with KAA's famous leaf symbol stitched onto the chest pocket. "So what's up with these uniforms?" she asked curiously.

"Don't you dare wear the whole thing at once," Temari demanded, an intimidating scowl across her features. Only Neji does, and that's because he's an ass." She gestured to her own outfit: the uniform shirt with a bold floral-print skirt and simple white Converse sneakers. "Most of us wear a piece at a time and then mix in our other clothing with it."

Tenten nodded solemnly, inwardly wondering what in the world was so wrong with wearing the whole thing at once. Looking down at her own worn outfit with distaste, she scoffed. It would be a lot nicer to wear a complete new outfit for once. But she wasn't quite one to bite the hand that fed her.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

Shikamaru's stomach let out a loud grumble, surprising both of the two boys. The Nara boy sighed and shook his head. "I don't know when I've had a meal last... this morning?" he wondered quietly. The thought made him smile a little bit. His best friend at school, Chouji, would be alarmed at the very thought of not having eaten in so many hours. "Hate to ask you, but is there anywhere to get food nearby? Not that I'd bother if it's far away," he admitted honestly.

Neji sighed and lowered the book that he'd been buried in. "It's downstairs," he said, only to pick up the book again and continue to read. Shikamaru stared at him in disbelief for a moment or two before clearing his throat. "What?" Neji demanded, not even bothering to lift his eyes from the page.

"I'm not going down alone and getting lost. As much as you don't like it, you and you friend–Temari–you guys have to help us around this school."

Neji groaned and dropped the book onto the bedspread where it flopped, revealing the unappealing cover of a textbook. "Fine then. Come on, public-school boy," Neji demanded, walking out the door as Shikamaru slumped after him.

"Listen carefully, 'cause I'm not gonna explain this again. This is our hallway, right? Guys only on our floor. Not anyone in this hall really worth paying attention to. At each end of the hall is a staircase. Elevators are in the middle of the hall." As he spoke, Neji hailed an elevator and walked in. "Most of the floors house people; even numbered floors for girls and odds for guys. The very top floor is actually the roof. People have parties there sometimes, or people just go alone to chill out. Main floor has laundry, practice rooms, a lobby, and a cafeteria."

The elevator dinged softly and Neji led Shikamaru to the cafeteria, a large and slightly futuristic steel creation with food everywhere except those sections occupied by tables and chairs. "Scan your ID to pay for your food. They probably gave you the best option, so you shouldn't need to worry about running out of money. Get what you want, go through the line, and scan your ID. Although I would hope you could figure that out by yourself," Neji scoffed.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

Tenten glanced at the bright numbers on the clock. 4:50. Perfect. Quietly, she slipped out of her bed, pulled her hair into a loose bun on top of her head, and threw on a pair of sweat pants over her shorts. Without a sound, she grabbed her cello from the corner of her room, slipped out of the door, and headed towards the elevator.

The small practice rooms were uninhabited, the one she entered only occupied by a music stand and a chair. Sighing and rubbing her eyes, she sat down, then placed her music on the stand, staring at it blearily. Of course she was tired, but she knew that Neji and Temari would want to practice later. She'd have to be somewhat prepared.

With much the same enthusiasm as a prisoner facing the gallows, she arranged her music so the third and fourth pages of the Vivacissimamente faced her. Groaning and resisting the urge to bang her head against the wall until she fell unconscious, she unpacked her cello. 'It'll probably be around 180 here... maybe 190. And with the sixteenth notes (2) ..." she groaned again. Had they wanted her to fail by giving her such a difficult section.

After a few moments tuning, she played through the section, slowly at first, but speeding up until her fingers couldn't catch up with the music anymore. They slipped and pulled the most awful tones from her cello, coercing her to try again. And again, and again. Each time with less success until she angrily slammed her bow onto the stand and rested her head on her cello.

"Giving up already?" Temari's voice called as she opened the door slightly and slid through the crack. Tenten shot her head up, nearly missing snapping one of her tuning pegs (3) in half. "I don't know a damned thing about the cello, but you probably shouldn't be so tense while playing. Loosen up. It's more of a wrist movement on the faster notes, right? That's how Neji does it."

Tenten gave Temari a sleepy glare. "I know how to play my instrument."

With a short laugh, Temari grinned ferally. "Then prove it to me, public-school girl. Sit up and play the cello instead of moping." With a glare and a brief, rude gesture, Tenten did just that.

_pianissimo;piano;mezzo piano;mezzo forte;forte;fortissimo_

(1) The sharps and flats of a piece. Sharps are ½ step higher, flats ½ step lower.

(2) Four times faster than a quarter note, which is the 'beat' in most music. In a normal piece going 190, there are 760 sixteenth notes in a minute. About 12 per second. XP

(3) Little pegs you turn to tune any stringed instrument; they are above the fingerboard. Snapping them will result in a badly out-of-tune instrument, a need to get a new peg, and possibly a need for a new string, which can get ridiculously expensive.


End file.
